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Omega-3 & The Brain
 The omega-3 fatty acid known as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an important ingredient for optimal brain function. Earl Mindell, RPh PhD, writes in Earl Mindell's Supplement Bible, “There's a reason why fish is known as brain food. It is a rich source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a fatty acid that is found in high concentration in the gray matter of the brain. DHA is instrumental in the function of brain cell membranes, which are important for the transmission of brain signals.” By making cell membranes more fluid, omega-3 fatty acids, especially DHA, improve communication between the brain cells, according to Mind Boosters author Dr. Ray Sahelia. As a result, lack of omega-3 in the body can cause a communication breakdown in the brain, which is probably the last place you'd want such a breakdown to happen.
Omega-3 fatty acids are so important to the development and proper maintenance of the brain that some scientists even postulate that it was the ingestion of omega-3 EFAs that allowed the brain to evolve to the next stage in human development. While omega-3s were abundant in our diets before the 20th century, they are now seriously lacking. Just like a machine, your brain needs oil -- in the form of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids -- to run smoothly. Unfortunately, the average diet doesn't usually contain the right balance of these fatty acids. If you eat a typical modern diet, you probably get plenty of omega-6 through corn, soybean, and other oils in processed food. But omega-3 oils, which are just as important, are often missing.
Bi-Polar & Omega Oils
What can transform someone from being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and chronic fatigue syndrome to a state of total mental and physical well being? As James Boschman discovered, omega-3 fatty acids can work those wonders and more. Within three weeks of incorporating flax seed -- the highest known vegetable source of omega-3s -- into his diet, he was sleeping normally and, in his words, "not crazy anymore," as the omega-3 fatty acids leveled out the wild fluctuations in his brain. After experiencing flaxseed's amazing abilities for himself, Boschman spent the next 15 years researching omega-3 fatty acids and eventually began the flaxseed packaging and distribution company Randolph & James Flax Mills Ltd. During his Winter 2005 lecture on essential nutrition, he brought this unique and delicious flaxseed and his wealth of knowledge to share at the First Annual Arizona Choices Exposition in Tucson, Ariz., and all those attending the lecture learned what a little dietary flaxseed could do for this modern mental illness epidemic.
Suggested Daily Intake of EPA/DHA (Omega 3) 4000mg spilt into two doses.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Health
There has been an explosion of research on the relationship of Omega-3 fatty acids to human health over the past two decades. Several recent studies, conducted in both animals and humans, have shown that babies who receive adequate amounts of this vital fat have better functioning brains and higher IQs,” writes Dr. Russell L. Blaylock in Health And Nutrition Secrets. “Those with low amounts of DHA demonstrate learning difficulties and visual problems.” Therefore, moms who want to brag about their kids’ intelligence could stand to add more fish to their diets.
Omega-3 fatty acids continue to be essential to infant brain development after birth, and research shows babies who are breast fed receive higher levels of the important fatty acid than those fed formula, since baby formula in the United States is not required to contain any omega-3 at all and is only to become a requirement in Europe later this year. Breast milk appears, in this case, to have major payoffs, Breastfed infants have been found to be more intelligent than formula-fed infants and to achieve higher academic levels in adult life.
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Introduction To Omega 3
 Omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial because they provide fluidity to cell membranes and improve communication between brain cells. Omega-3s also reduce the clotting ability of platelets, thus potentially decreasing the incidence of heart attacks and strokes. Two very important omega-3 fatty acids are eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA). They are found in seafood, especially mackerel, salmon, striped bass, rainbow trout, halibut, tuna, and sardines. In the body, DHA is found mostly in the brain, retina, and in sperm. DHA plays an important role in vision. B) Omega-6 fatty acids are made from linoleic acid, a fatty acid found in vegetable oils such as corn, safflower, cottonseed, and sunflower. Mayonnaise and salad oils normally contain a great amount of omega-6 fatty acids. Unlike omega-3s, which are concentrated in the brain, omega-6s are found in most tissues in the body. The double bond of an omega-6 fatty acid starts six carbons from the left. Most Americans generally have a much higher intake of the omega-6s than the omega-3s due to the balance of highly processed foods in their diet to which trans-fats have been added.
As a result of our processed-food-rich diets, we're consuming large amounts of omega-6 fatty acids and little or zero omega-3 fatty acids, which is a recipe for feeling stressed out. Stress, caused by events like someone cutting in front of you in traffic, turns on the production of adrenaline from omega-6 fatty acids. Think of it as an "on button." The problem is that we need omega-3 fatty acids to turn off the stress response, which is precisely why there are so many high-strung people in our omega-3-deficient society. They simply lack the "off button" required to stop their bodies' responses to everyday stresses.
Omega-3 deficiency is a major cause of mental illness in Europe and North America. Food manufacturers don't use ingredients high in omega-3 fatty acids because they grow rancid quickly. Since money ranks ahead of good nutrition, despite the fact that sooner or later it will cost us all more money, they use hydrogenated oils which have a long shelf life but also create trans-fats in the foods as a byproduct of the hydrogenation process. Research links trans-fats to cancer, heart disease and a number of other chronic diseases, making them the number one today
Pregnant Women Need Omega-3s
It may not be surprising that most red-meat-loving Americans do not get a lot a fish in their diets, and therefore are not getting enough brain-boosting omega-3. Unfortunately, since DHA is crucial in fetal brain development, that lack of omega-3 could be putting us at a mental disadvantage before we are even born. During pregnancy, omega-3 fatty acids are conveyed from the mother's blood to the developing fetus by way of the placenta. They are vital for the development of the brain and retina membranes of the fetus. Thus, the amount of DHA the baby receives depends on the mother's dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids. Depending on Mom’s diet, then, a child’s brain could be starved for omega-3 before it has any say in the matter, and research shows this could actually have a significant impact on intelligence and vision.
Suggested Daily Intake of EPA/DHA 2000mg
Postpartum Depression & Omega Oils
However, omega-3 deficiency is linked to much more than angry drivers yelling out their windows. The lack of the essential fatty acid in pregnant women might be a cause of both postpartum depression and the development of symptoms popularly diagnosed as ADHD, Tourette's syndrome and even mental retardation in the delivered child. During pregnancy, almost all of a woman's omega-3 reserves are used to form the brain of the developing fetus. If she doesn't increase her intake of the essential fatty acid accordingly, postpartum depression can occur. Additionally, if her body lacks enough omega-3 to form the fetus' brain sufficiently, and the child is not given proper omega-3 through diet or supplements during the first two years of life one of three brain disorders will occur, depending on the severity of the deficiency:
Postpartum Depression Suggested Daily Intake: 4000mg
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A SAFE Anti Inflammatory
There is no safer anti-inflammatory than EPA/DHA. They are SAFE, they are cheap and do not have side effects. They make good replacements for anti-inflammatory prescription drugs such as Vioxx and Bextra. Many people don't realize that anti-inflammatory drugs harm more than 60,000 people in Europe and kill some 15,000. In the USA some 100,000 people are harmed and 20,000 killed each year. According to the FDA, Vioxx alone is associated with heart attacks in more than 27,000 patients over the last several years (despite this slaughter of 27,000 the FDA only reluctantly withdrew the medicine, recently after high pressure lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry it was put back onto the market– can you imagine how fast they would have withdrawn a herbal medicine if it had done this, as well as press criminal charges).
But new medical research is showing that fish oils and omega-3 fatty acids is just as effective as anti-inflammatory drugs without any of the negative side effects. In this particular study, more than two thirds of study participants were able to stop using anti-inflammatory drugs and, instead, switch to fish oils and omega-3 fatty acids. Naturally, fish oils don't exhibit the dangerous side effects of prescription drugs such as increased death rates, increased risk of heart attacks, and serious neurological disorders.
Multiple Sclerosis Suggested Daily Intake: 4000mg
Fibromyalgia Suggested Daily Intake: 4000mg
Lupus (SLE) Suggested Daily Intake: 4000mg
Arthritis Suggested Daily Intake: 3000mg
Conclusion
 Fish oils are far less expensive than prescription drugs. Of course, the pharmaceutical companies don't want consumers to learn the fact that fish oils can replace their expensive, patented drugs and be just as effective with none of the negative side effects. And that's partly why the public rarely hears the good news about prevention of arthritis pain with natural substances, foods, or nutritional supplements. Big Pharma is so worried about the potential of these oils they are trying to have their sale banned, and the law changed to allow THEM to patent them so that they can take over the sale of them, at their usual mark up of 500,000% on raw material costs). Combine these oils with a proper diet, proper hydration and you have an excellent disease fighting combination.
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